Is Heaven Eternal??
Will "Heaven" ever come to an end?
Where is "Heaven"?
What is it like in "Heaven"?
Who goes to "Heaven"?
"Will 'Heaven' Ever Come to an End? Is it an infinite, eternal, place?"
We hear many things about "Heaven" and seem to always hear that it is an "eternal, never-ending, place of residence" that people go to when they die. Where does that notion come from? Is there any Bible Scripture that states, "You will go to heaven forever?"
Certainly there are Biblical references to "eternal, never-ending, life" but I know of no place where it says that eternal life is totally experienced in "Heaven". As a matter of fact, there are numerous references to "Heaven" being a temporal place where residence is finite.
Matthew 5: Jesus uses the term "heaven" as though it might be a temporary place:
:18 "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
Jesus may not have been referring to heaven passing away in literal terms, but perhaps He was.
In the Book of Revelation we find a similar reference to the current "spiritual residence" called "Heaven" coming to an end:
Revelation 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away"
"So what IS Heaven?"
We know that "Heaven" is specified as being the place of residence of God, as portrayed in one of the many references to such in Matthew 10;32 When Jesus said, “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven."
There are many references to the "Kingdom of Heaven" because The King resides there and rules from His throne in Heaven.
But does the fact that God, who is "eternal", as in infinitely timeless, mean that His current place of residence is to continue "eternally", or will it change?
Is it possible that God will create a new residence, a new Temple, for Himself as the base of His "eternal" Kingdom?
Will circumstances change in the providential, foreknown, Plan of God that will result in God, His Kingdom, and all of its current residents living in a "new" place that is even more glorious than the current "spiritual" Heaven?
Will the current "spiritual" Heaven eventually be replaced by God with a new type of "Heaven", that is even more glorious and appropriate for the Children of God (those citizens in His Kingdom) than The Heaven of this current "stage, or dispensation" in God's Plans?
I believe that is so, and The Bible portrays it as being so.
"The New Heaven That Replaces The Current 'Spiritual' Heaven"
In the Book of Revelation Chapter 21 we find the account of God replacing the residence of the seat of His Kingdom with a new, even more glorious, setting which is appropriate for the "post-Church" Age:
:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer [any] sea. :2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. :3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, :4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be [any] death; there shall no longer be [any] mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
HALLELUJAH!
This is a description of the eternal residence in which ALL resurrected Saints will reside. The events preceding the entry of this "New Heaven and New Earth" describe the details of King Jesus Christ arriving to collect His Bride, The Church!
Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” :8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright [and] clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. :9 And he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.”
This new residence of the seat of The Kingdom of God is referred to as "The New Heaven and The New Earth" because at this stage in God's Plan there will no longer be ANY separation of the People of God from God OR from each other. Today, in this stage, or era, or "Church" dispensation, there exists a "dual-presence" of the Saints. Those remaining in this world are separated from those Saints who have died and their souls departed into the spiritual realm of God's Heavenly Kingdom. But it will NOT always be this way!
No Longer A Need For A "Spiritual Dwelling Place"
At this contemporary stage in God's Plan, there is a "spiritual realm" in existence simultaneously with the "physical, worldly, realm". The living souls of the "dead in Christ" leave this world to reside with God in His glorious presence in Heaven. The Bible says that this transfer takes place immediately following a redeemed, born-again, Child of God drawing their final breath on this earth. They immediately are in the presence of their Almighty God, Creator, Father, in all of His blazing, brilliant, majesty in His "heaven". There they await the coming "Wedding Feast" when King Jesus returns to earth bringing those Saints in heaven with Him.
This account is consistent within the entire context of the description of these events in the Bible as shown in the Book of Revelation, the accounts of the "End Times" by Jesus Christ Himself in the Book of Matthew Chapter 24 and other places, and most vividly portrayed in the Book of 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4:
14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. :15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive,and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. :16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
HALLELUJAH!!
All Saints Live In Their Physical, Sanctified, Holy, Eternal Bodies
This describes events when God will create the situation that He always intended for His Children to have. There will no longer be a need for a "spiritual Heaven" where the souls of the Saints await to receive their physical, eternal, supernatural bodies.
The Bible explains that when those Saints who died prior to the return of King Jesus receive their resurrected, eternal bodies, those Saints who are still living at that time will be transformed into their physical, eternal, supernatural bodies. ALL Saints will then live in their sanctified, physical, eternal, supernatural bodies which are the same as that eternal body that King Jesus Christ acquired upon His resurrection.
Therefore, there will no longer be a need for a "spiritual" realm existing simultaneously with a "physical/worldly" realm. NO separation by death because there will NO LONGER BE DEATH!
God will replace that old, carnal, perverted system established at the time of the introduction of "sin" by Adam and Eve which also originated the state of physical "death" and the soul departing from the temporal physical body. That structure which originated with "sin" required an accommodation for the "spirits" of the dead while simultaneously requiring a continued residence on earth for those awaiting their death.
The Elimination of The Need For a Spiritual Heaven
When King Jesus Christ returns with ALL the Saints who currently reside with Him in that spiritual Heaven, there will no longer be ANYONE in that Heaven! It will be vacated! There will no longer be a necessity for it.
Instead, all Saints will reside with King Jesus on earth for a period of 1,000 years following the "marriage between The Bride (The Church) and The Groom, King Jesus, The Christ". At the end of that 1,000 year period when King Jesus rules over all the earth ("The Millennium") God will bring to an end the structure of a "spiritual realm" existing simultaneously with a "worldly realm" and introduce the new royal residence of God and all of His Kingdom ("The New Heaven and The New Earth").
The Glorious Description of The New Heaven
According to The Bible's portrayal of the unfolding of God's Plan, the current spiritual "Heaven", which is the glorious residence for the souls of all departed Saints, will be replaced by a residence even more beautiful and glorious.The description of that "New Heaven" is described in Revelation 21. That description of "Heaven" is the eventual dwelling place for all the Saints in which Jesus said in John 14:
:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. :3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also."
Most of us are familiar with that passage and mistakenly believe it is in reference to the current "spiritual" Heaven, which is indeed the Holy, Glorious, Residence of God, where all the Saints who depart in death reside. But it is accurately interpreted as being in reference to "The New Heaven" and "The New Earth" that is to come following the Rapture of The Saints/The Wedding of The Bride (The Church) and King Jesus, The Groom, following His Second Coming and His "1,000 year reign on Earth" (The Millennium Period).
Following The Second Coming of Christ to gather all His Saints together (The Rapture), King Jesus will reign as the global King on Earth for 1,000 Years. (Revelation 20:1-7). At the end of that "1,000 year reign of King Jesus on Earth", the Bible explains that this current Earth AND Heaven will be destroyed and replaced by God's New Realm.
Then there will be the introduction of "The New Heaven" which will replace the current "Spiritual Heaven". Indeed, the Heaven of this Age is a place of unimaginable beauty, glory, and infinite bliss in the very presence of God and all of those Saints who have departed this world in death. But that Heaven which serves as the "spiritual residence" for God and the souls of His Children will be replaced by this "New Heaven" which is even more glorious as described in Revelation Chapter 21:
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, :11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. :12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels;
:18 And the material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. :19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. :21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. :22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. :23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp [is] the Lamb. :24 And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth 18 shall bring their glory into it. :25 And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; :26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; :27 and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life."
Does that sound familiar as being the description of the Heaven we think of as being the residence for all of the departed Saints who die and whose souls leave this world?
Actually, it is the description of the "physical, abode where ALL Saints will reside following the time of their having received their sanctified, perfect, eternal, supernatural, physical bodies. But the current spiritual Heaven would not be an appropriate accommodation for that Holy, Physical, presence of those resurrected Saints.That condition transition from "spiritual" into "physical" requires that God create and provide a "New Heaven and a New Earth" which is in reality, one place accommodating what is now both "Heaven" and "Earth".
But what about the souls of those whose names ARE NOT FOUND IN THE "BOOK OF LIFE"? Where are they? What happens to them when God eliminates the "spiritual realm"? Will they reside in Hell? Where is "Hell"? Is "Hell" eternal?
These questions will be answered on a subsequent Blog Post.
